Track construction



W. W. WHEELER.

TRACK CDNSTRUCTION.`

APPLICATION man FEB. n. 1921.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

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.H111 --MHHHHWHHHHNHHHM ATTORNEYS W. W. WHELER.

TRACK coNsRucnoN.

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WITNESSES WILLIAM WILLIS WHEELER, OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

Application filed February 17, 1921. Serial No. 445,806.

T0 all 'whom z't may concer-'n Be it known rthat I, WILLIAM WILLISIVHEELER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofJacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Track Construction, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates generally to track construction and particularly toa track construction specially designed for use in the system of plantincultivating and gathering of crops emboied in my ending application,Serial No. 387 ,215, filed June 7, 1920.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a track construction which issimple, inexpensive and extremely durable to withstand the weight andwear of machinery passing over the tracks during the planting,cultivating and harvesting of crops.

I will describe two forms of tracks embodying my invention and will thenpoint out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the acompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view showing in top plan one form of track inapplied position within a eld.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the tracks in appliedposition within a field.

Fi ure 3 is a. fragmentary view showing in sirIe elevation a portion ofone of the track rails and supporting means therefor.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure3.

'Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in whicha rail is arranged as with respect to the joint of any two basesections.

Figure 6 is a detailed perspective view of one of the connecting barsfor connecting the base section.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a modified form of base inapplied position within the earth.

Similar reference characters referto similar parts in each of theseveral views.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to Figures l and2, T and T esignate a pair of tracks, over which farming machinery isadapted to move. These two tracks are only two of a number of similartracks which are adapted to be arranged at regular intervals throughoutthe area of a field so as to divide the field into a plurality ofindependently workable gardens, as more fully described and shown in mypending application heretofore referred to. The tracks T and T are madeup of three rails, the intermediate rail constituting one rail of eitherof the two tracks. Each rail R is supported upon a base or supportingmember B which is co-extensive in length with the rail and ofsubstantially the same thickness. As shown in Figures 3,'4 and 5, eachbase member is made up of a plurality of companion sections designatedat 15 and 15jq arranged end to end and interlocked at their confrontingedges by a tongue and groove connection designated at 16 in Figure 4. Asshown in Figure 2, each section 15 or 15n is provided with a relativelywide base 17, and a groove 18 in its upper edge which is coextensive inlength with the section. As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the groove 18 isarranged centrally of the upper edge and is of substantially U-shape incross section for the reception of a yCorrespondingly shaped tongue 19formed on the under side of the rail B. The tongue 19 is likewisearranged centrally of the under side of the rail It so that the portionsof the rail at opposite sides of the tongue engage correspondingportions on the upper edge of the base section with the tongue withinthe groove thereby forming a substantial support for the rail and at thesame time preventing lateral movement of the rail with respect to thesection,

To maintain the base members B in spaced parallel relation, I provideconnecting bars C at frequent intervals along the length of the track,such bars being rigidly connected with the base members by arms 2Opartially imbedded. within the base sections and extending from theconfronting sides of the sections at corresponding points. The oppositeends of any one connecting bar C are slotted as shown in Figure 6 forreceiving bolts 21 carried by the arms 2O thereby permitting of theslivht adjustment of the contacting bar as with respect to the basemembers, and a secure locking of the connecting bar to the base membersafter such adjustment has been made.

In practice, the base members B are made of any suitable material, forinstance reinforced 4concrete, each base section 15 or 15a being formedat one end with a tongue and at the opposite end with a correspondinglyshaped groove so that when in assembled position the tongue and grooveconnection between any two base sections prevents lateral movement ofthe sections with respect to each other. The rails R in applied positionupon the base members are arranged so that the joint between the tworail Sec- Y tions is disalined with respect to the joint member which isdesignated at B.

of any two base sections. This arrangement is clearly 'shown in Figures3 and v5, the advantage being that the rails serve to further V`lock anytwo adjacent base sections, while the base sections serve to prevent:lateral displacement of any two rail sections. This arrangement inconjunction with the metallic connecting bars provides a track ofextremely substantial and durable con struction for the supporting ofheavy farming implements thereon during the planting, cultivating andharvesting Vof crops between the rails of tlietiack.v

Referring now to Figure 7, I have here shown a slightly modified form ofbase This base member B. is constructed the same as the base member Bwith the exception that Vit is of smaller` dimension from t-he upper'edge to the lower edge so as to be imbedded only for a short distancewithin the ground.

This base member is ldesigned torbe used lin a warm country where thesoil does not -become frozen. The base members B are especially designedfor use in cold climates where a relatively 4thick stratum ofearth-becomes frozen. It isto be particularly noted that the basemembers B are of such dimension groovev connections on. theiryconfronting,

ends `for locking any two adjacent sections against relative lateralmovement, means for rigidly connecting said members, rai-ls supportedupon vand disposed -in Aparallel rela-fk tion to the upper edge of-vsaidmemberaand a tongue and groove connection vbetween said rails andmembers. Y I i 2. In a track construction, spaced base Amemberscomprising sections arranged '-end to end and having tongue and groove-connections at their ends, arms formed ontlie 'confronting sides ofsaid `inem-bers, connecting` bars rigidly connecting said arms, .grooves:formed on the upper edges lof `said members, rails supported on-saidmembers E I and disposed in parallel.relation'theretm and tonguesformed onsaid ra-ils and .seating within said grooves wiLLniMWiLLrsWHnLER.

